Timing is Important

Scheduling this trip has been a bit tricky. What with Hubby’s recent sojourn and some upcoming visits from some of the kids and grand kids, it was kinda like now or mid-August at the earliest. And August gets HOT. I hate the heat.

I started watching the weather a bit more closely than usual when Tropical Storm Bill developed. It’s now a tropical depression (think LOTS of rain) tracking slowly north and east.

There was never a thought of delaying my departure, but I was considering leaving sooner, depending on the storm’s location. I mean, I do want to be able to enjoy the ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).

In case you don’t really know the geography covered by the BRP, here’s a map.

And here’s the site I’ve been using to determine whether or not a Friday (early) or Saturday (expected) departure would be best: Justin Weather.

Earlier in the week, it was looking as if the brunt of the tropical depression would be hovering over the entire northern portion of the BRP for most of the day on Saturday. Now it looks as if the core of the depression will cross my path Saturday night into Sunday morning.

In other words, Saturday morning appears to be dry. I might skirt the rain Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning may be a bit wet, but we’ll see. I’ll be leaving Saturday morning. Early. That’s tomorrow. Yay, me. 🙂

The good news is, I should see some pretty dramatic clouds. And the air should be really clear in Bill’s wake on Sunday. Big storms like that tend to suck all the moisture out of the air. If I’m right, the haze that tends to hang over the mountains should be reduced dramatically. And the Great Smoky Mountains may not look quite as smoky.

Weather can be fickle, though. Either way, a rainy day on the bike is better than a day at home doing chores.

Anyhoo… I’ll leave you with this video, which I saw today. I’ll kinda feel like this girl tomorrow.